Rationality
by my nature
Summary: Shikamaru is smart but not always rational.


Their enemies were not far behind.

Shikamaru turned his head, carefully avoiding Choji, to check. There was nothing behind him except the trees and the wind gently pushing him forward; not an enemy in sight. Shikamaru knew better than to trust his eyes though. It was one of the first lessons Asuma had ever taught them: 'It's when you can't see your enemies that they are the most dangerous.' Troublesome was not a strong enough word to describe the situation.

Maybe it had been fatigue. Maybe it had been because they were so close to the Land of Fire's borders. Or maybe it was because they just needed more training but whatever it was, they had let down their guard. Their mission had been a huge success. A more paranoid shinobi might have felt that something was up but even Asuma had almost missed it. Two things were immediately obvious: that the enemy had carefully planned their ambush and that they had carefully studied the entire team. Shikamaru realized right away that their goal was to separate them from Asuma and yet he still couldn't come up with a counter-strategy fast enough to stop them as their enemies expertly dodged all of their attacks. They were at a clear disadvantage.

Tired from the mission and surprised by the ambush, there was no way they could win. They couldn't even hold their ground as their enemies pushed them back, further and further away from Asuma. And then there was the enemy's tactician who, armed with knowledge, expertly negated all of their abilities. It was clear to all three of them that this was a lost battle and they had no choice but to retreat. The enemy sensed this too and was quick to aim a powerful attack at Choji. He jumped but was too slow to avoid being hit in the leg and he cried out in pain as he fell back onto the ground. He could not get up and his legs would not sustain him and Shikamaru quickly ran over to grab him. Ino covered their escape with a smoke screen and left a few explosive tags behind to try and deter their enemy. At best, they had bought themselves a few minutes

Shikamaru was glad that Choji had turned most of his body fat into chakra already. It made him easier to carry but Shikamaru was still much slower than normal.

There was still no sign of the enemy and Ino was worried too. She kept glancing back to check. Shikamaru worried about Asuma but they had no idea where he was. They could not really help him anyways. They would merely be a burden on him as he would have to protect them and fight at the same time. They were also almost out of chakra.

Their only hope was the border. There had been tensions along the border and the Hokage had increased the patrols. Shikamaru had no idea who was on border patrol right now and had no idea if the patrol would be strong enough to fight off their enemies but he could not come up with anything else at the moment.

In his mind, he ran simulations and tried to analyze the situation but he was exhausted, hungry, and his focus was needed elsewhere. He had to stay alert so as to avoid another ambush.

'The enemy you can't see is far more dangerous than the one you can.'

Blood from Choji's wound reached him now. He could feel his clothes growing wet but they couldn't stop to treat Choji's wounds. Not when they were so close to the border and not when the enemy could be anywhere. His eyes scanned the forest but all he could see were the branches and the leaves and they were everywhere; it would be far too easy to hide in them. He was far more worried about the things that he couldn't see. Ino was saying something and he almost missed it.

"... carry him for a bit," she offered. Shikamaru blinked and turned towards her before he realized that Choji was still on his back. _Oh_. He shook his head. Ino knew some medical ninjutsu and could have healed Choji if she had the time and the chakra. Both were luxuries not afforded to them now. Choji moaned in pain but there was nothing they could do for him. He reassured himself with the thought that if Choji's injuries were life-threatening then Ino would have said so. They would have stopped and Ino would have healed him and he would have fought off a million enemy shinobi to guard his teammates. His thoughts started to wander to Asuma and maybe hers did too.

"He'll be fine," she said reassuringly. The feeling in his gut said otherwise.

Choji was growing heavier on his back. He began to slow down and Ino noticed.

"I can carry him," she offered again. He could not simply toss Choji off his back and onto Ino's and stopping for even a second could be fatal. Time was their curse. And so he shook his head again and tried to speed up as best he could but it was getting harder. His feet hurt and his legs protested and his sense of balance was off. He misjudged the distance to the next branch and nearly fell off. Ino made her offer again but he simply shook his head again. He would have been fine if he could just have a second to catch his breath. He didn't get it.

"I'm slowing you down," Choji said in a whisper. Ino heard him though and it showed all over her face.

"Shut up, Choji." Shikamaru knew what Choji was thinking because he had been thinking the same thing. He wanted to sacrifice himself to save the team but Shikamaru wouldn't allow it. If anyone was going to sacrifice himself, it was going to be him. His mind ran through possibilities again and not one of them involved Choji sacrificing himself. Most of them involved Shikamaru sacrificing himself as his two teammates made it to safety. The ones that didn't were failures.

Behind them, they could hear it. The enemy was drawing closer.

"Just leave me behind, I can buy you some time," Choji said. His legs were injured but he still had a little chakra left. At the very least, he could buy his teammates some time.

"No," both Shikamaru and Ino retorted.

Maybe it was not the most rational decision. Maybe it was better to sacrifice one so that the other two could get away rather than lose all three. But to Shikamaru there was the rational decision and then there was the right decision and there had never been any question as to his choice.

Ino felt the same way as Choji. She wanted to sacrifice herself for the team too.

"No," Choji protested weakly.

"No," Shikamaru retorted.

"But—"

"Ino, we are all getting out of here together," Shikamaru said with confidence that he did not have. And Ino seemed to know it too.

"Shikamaru, you know better than I that—"

"No!"

"Be reasonable—"

He was being reasonable. "Ino, if you stop, then I'm stopping too." There was no way to try and prevent her from stopping and turning around to engage the enemy but at least he could threaten to do the same.

It worked, sort of and Ino stayed silent until they heard it again.

"They're right behind us," Ino said and Choji struggled a little to get off Shikamaru's back and sacrifice himself for the team. Shikamaru held on tight.

"Give me a second, I'll think of something," he lied. And the others pretended to believe him.


End file.
